1979 AMC Spirit GT review from North America

I blew the original 232 in line six at about 150,000 miles. That was seven years ago, and I have completely restored the car since then. The quarter panels had rust, so I cut good sections out of another car and welded them in. I also changed the interior to one from a 1980 Spirit DL and added a floor console and floor shifter at that time. I just blew out the rear end - not the original, it was from a 1974 Gremlin X - and plan to put a Ford 9-inch in it soon.

In stock condition this is a horrible car to drive. It weighs around 3,000lbs,and has only 90 HP! The interior is roomy for front seat passengers, but useless for backseat passengers. It is nose heavy and brakes and handles poorly because of it.

Mine has been extensively modified in the 13 years I have owned it. It now has a 1973 AMC 360 V8 making approximately 350 - 400 HP. The battery has been relocated to the trunk, the air conditioning has been removed, the cast iron intake manifold has been replaced with one of aluminium, and the cast iron exhaust manifolds have been replaced with steel-tube headers. This was all done to remove weight from the front of the car, and along with a switch to wider tires on 15 inch rims has vastly improved handling.